Baby Boosters

Foals, just as infants, are vulnerable to disease and infection because their young bodies are naive to the world of germs and bacteria. The inclination, particularly for horse owners who choose to vaccinate their own horses, is to

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Foals, just as infants, are vulnerable to disease and infection because their young bodies are naive to the world of germs and bacteria. The inclination, particularly for horse owners who choose to vaccinate their own horses, is to administer vaccines as early as possible or as recommended by over-the-counter products. New research, however, seems to indicate that doing so might be a moot point in the very young.


Currently, the majority of vaccines offers only limited protection for the highly susceptible equine neonate. Attention should be given to decreasing exposure to pathogens–those organisms that can cause disease–through isolation and sanitation, as well as by eliminating stressors that reduce the foal’s resistance.


Factors that affect a foal’s immunization program include the management situation, geographic location, and risk versus cost benefits for the owner. Although it is impossible to make universal recommendations for the vaccination of foals, a rational plan can be developed if an owner understands the key decision points in passive and active immunization regimens

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

D. Paul Lunn, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, Dipl. ACVIM, is dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University, taking up that position in February 2012 after serving as a professor and head of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Before moving to Colorado in 2003, Lunn worked as an equine medicine faculty member, and teaching hospital director at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lunn hails from Wales, where he grew up in a farming community. More recently his interests have been in equine immunology and infectious disease, and he continues to run a research program focusing on influenza virus and EHV-1 infection in horses. Outside of work, he and his wife Kathy enjoy hiking and raising terriers. Lunn also fly fishes and skis inexpertly but enthusiastically.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
439 votes · 439 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!